Dubai: An Iraqi woman in Dubai is crying foul after an Indonesian maid she hired went missing last week, leaving her with little recourse to protection as a sponsor.
Zina, a single mother who works as an IT consultant in Dubai, said she was shocked to find that the maid, Sumyati Gembor Samin, left the house while she was away at work, even as her two daughters, 10 and 7, slept inside.
Huge costs
"I have installed a camera in my apartment and when I routinely called home from the office last Tuesday, everything seemed quiet. There was no response on the maid's mobile phone either. Sensing that something was wrong, I rushed home at around 11am only to find the main door open while my daughters were fast asleep inside."
The maid had left without a word, she said, alleging that a bag belonging to her children and a mobile phone were also missing.
Zina said she hired the maid from a manpower supply agency in Sharjah in December 2010 after coughing up around Dh15,000, in addition to the monthly salary of Dh800 that she was paying her since then. "The agency alone charged me Dh6,800. I paid Dh5,215 for the maid's residence visa, Dh755 for the entry permit, Dh605 for a change in visa status and Dh2,000 as servant deposit."
She alleged that when she contacted the agency, it washed of its hands on the grounds that it was a "runaway maid" case against which it was adequately protected. XPRESS tried to contact the agency but there was no response.
Zina, who also drew a blank at the Indonesian embassy and consulate, said she filed an "absconding" complaint against the maid with the immigration authorities last Tuesday. "When I filed the complaint, I ended up spending more money: Dh230 as ‘deportation of violator's fee' and Dh130 as ‘exit passenger fee'," she said. "This is so unfair. I cannot afford the huge costs. On top of it, I have no guarantees. Surely there has to be some way in which sponsors can protect themselves," said Zina, who is yet to get the servant deposit of Dh2,000 back.
The Iraqi woman said this was the second time she had gone through such an experience. But the first time round, she had managed to get back the Dh8,000 she had paid a Dubai-based agency with the help of immigration authorities as the maid had left just two weeks after joining duty.
"The problem now is the passage of time. Most agencies do not take responsibility in runaway cases after a period of one or three months," she claimed. "Where does that leave people like me?"
